Minutes – September 27, 2024 – San Francisco Ethics Commission

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of
The San Francisco Ethics Commission
Friday, September 27, 2024

Hybrid meeting conducted in-person in City Hall Room 416, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, and also held online as a Remote Meeting via WebEx and aired live on SFGovTV

Note: SFGovTV provides a continuous archive of audio, video, and Caption Notes recordings of Ethics Commission meetings that allows viewers to watch those meetings online in full at the viewer’s convenience. These archives of Ethics Commission meetings may be accessed at SFGovTV at http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=142.

(Note: A complete recording of this meeting can be found on SFGovTv.)

COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: With Chair Theis Finlev, Vice-Chair Flórez Feng, and Commissioners Yaman Salahi, David Tsai, and Karen Bell Francois participating, a quorum was present.

STAFF PRESENTING: Kevin Kincaid, Online Meeting Moderator; Gayathri Thaikkendiyil, Deputy Director & Chief Operating Officer; Michael Canning, Policy & Legislative Affairs Manager; Olabisi Matthews, Director of Enforcement; Eric Willett, Senior Investigative Analyst; Zachary D’Amico, Senior Investigative Analyst.

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Kathleen Radez, Deputy City Attorney

MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED:

Item 1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Chair Theis Finlev called the meeting to order at 11:03am and stated that members of the public may participate in-person or remotely.

Meeting Moderator Kevin Kincaid summarized the procedures for participation by members of the public for the meeting.

Item 2. Public comment on matters not appearing on the agenda.

Public Comment:

Ellen Lee Zhou recited the pledge of allegiance. She was a wrongfully terminated public employee. There are ongoing lawsuits regarding vaccine mandates. The San Francisco government is run by puppet masters. The Ethics Commission retaliated and discriminated against her after she ran for mayor. Her billboards were illegally removed, which she characterized as election interference. The public has been misled into thinking there are 5 mayoral candidates when there are 13. The Ethics Commission has a duty to investigate election interference. She is currently running for Mayor.

Ellen Lee Zhou also provided a written summary of her comments and other documents that are available here.

CONSENT CALENDAR: Items 3, 4, and 5

Under its Consent Calendar, the Commission provided the opportunity for public comment on all consent calendar items and voted 5-0 to adopt a motion by Chair Finlev and seconded by Commissioner Salahi to approve the following consent calendar items that required action by the Commission:

Item 3, Draft Minutes for August 9, 2024, Regular Meeting

The following Consent Calendar items were informational and required no action by the Commission, but the opportunity for public comment was provided.

Item 4, Executive Director’s report dated September 20, 2024
Item 5, Director of Enforcement’s Report dated September 23, 2024

Public Comment:

No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

Motion 240927-01 (Finlev / Salahi): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (5-0) to approve the consent calendar item requiring action by the Commission.

REGULAR CALENDAR

Item 6. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Proposed Stipulation, Decision and Order In the Matter of Walter Park

Investigator Eric Willett presented. This matter involves an Access Appeals Commissioner who failed to timely file Form 700s and training forms and improperly participated in Commission meetings. The penalty amount is similar to amounts in prior enforcement actions.

Chair Finlev asked what the Access Appeals Commission does. Willett explained that they conduct hearings regarding DBI regulations. Chair Finlev noted that City commissions are responsible for advising their commissioners of their filing needs. Willett noted that it is the responsibility of commission clerks to notify their members. The Commission’s Engagement & Compliance team has made sure that those clerks are aware of their responsibilities. Chair Finlev noted that in this case, Engagement & Compliance reached out to Respondent prior to the filing due date. Willett confirmed that Engagement & Compliance notified respondent of his filing duties both prior to and after the due date. Chair Finlev stated that the proposed penalty was appropriate, but he appreciated that staff considered Respondent’s financial hardship.

Commissioner Salahi asked if the process of notifying commissioners and clerks that a commissioner is disqualified was an automated process. Kevin Kincaid confirmed that it is a manual process. Bisi Matthews noted that at this time there is not an automated process, and Enforcement has seen instances where clerks do not announce that a commissioner is disqualified.

Commissioner Tsai asked if there was any confirmation from Respondent that he received the notification emails. Willett stated that Respondent confirmed to him that he had received the emails.

Commissioner Florez-Feng commended the Enforcement Division for engaging with Respondent and reaching a fine that is reasonable.

The Commission approved a motion by Commissioner Salahi to adopt the stipulation in Item 6. The motion was seconded by Chair Finlev and approved unanimously (5-0). 

No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

Motion 240927-02 (Salahi / Finlev): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (5-0) to approve the stipulation in Item 6.

Item 7. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Proposed Stipulation, Decision and Order In the Matter of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy and Jay Cheng

Chair Finlev stated that Commissioner Salahi had been previously recused from this matter. Commissioner Salahi excused himself from the room.

Investigator Zach D’Amico presented a brief summary of the case. Neighbors Advocacy paid its consultant Riff City Strategies to provide services to the recall committee but failed to report those payments as non-monetary contributions to the recall committee. The penalty is just over half of the unreported contributions.

Chair Finlev noted these disclosures are important, but the violations are difficult to detect. He commended Enforcement staff for the investigation.

The Commission approved a motion by Chair Finlev to adopt the stipulation in Item 7. The motion was seconded by Vice-Chair Flórez Feng and approved unanimously (4-0). Commissioner Salahi was recused from participation in this item during the Commission’s previous meeting.

Public Comment:

Ellen Lee Zhou stated that she is running for Mayor and is the only Republican. The Ethics Commission has targeted Asian people. Nonprofit political PACs have targeted conservatives and Republicans. Democrats are controlling the commissioners. She has been discriminated against for being a Republican. The Commission is not a court of law and is not allowed to penalize people or take people to court. The Commission attempted to penalized her, but it does not have that power. Her mayoral billboards were illegally removed. Respondent Cheng is a Chinese person and the Commission does not have the power to penalize him.

Motion 240927-03 (Finlev / Flórez Feng): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to approve the stipulation in Item 7.

Item 8. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Proposed Amendments to Incompatible Activities Regulations to Implement Proposition D

Michael Canning presented. The proposed amendments concern section 3.218, including activities subject to the jurisdiction of one’s department. The draft regulations are intended to clarify terms and to create limited exceptions. Canning briefly summarized each proposed amendment.

Canning stated that developing these regulations was a lengthy process. Staff held two interested persons meetings last October with representatives of departments and community organization. Initial drafts were provided to the Commission in January. Throughout the last year, staff have worked with various City departments to strengthen and revise the regulations. Between March and August, staff conducted a meet and confer process. Canning noted that these regulations will allow Engagement & Compliance to provide clear advice to stakeholders. Further regulations may be necessary in the future, but the regulations presented today form a solid foundation.

Chair Finlev asked about section 3 regarding activities subject to one’s department’s jurisdiction. Chair Finlev, Canning, and Deputy City Attorney Radez discussed and clarified the wording of the section.

Chair Finlev also asked about section 7 regarding serving on a nonprofit’s board of directors. A department head may certify that an employee’s service on a board is part of their City duties. Chair Finlev Asked if it would be useful to provide guidance to department heads as to what qualifies as being a requirement of City duties. Canning noted that the regulation is intended to be broad, and the Commission will work with Engagement & Compliance to clarify guidance.

Commissioner Florez-Feng stated that she remembered discussing clarifying the definition of “personally and substantially.” Canning noted there is similar language in the post-employment rules, which could be cited in guidance.

The Commission approved a motion by Vice-Chair Flórez Feng to approve the regulation amendments presented in Item 8. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Tsai and approved unanimously (5-0).

Public Comment:

Debbi Lerman of the Human Services Network noted that she has spoken on this issue multiple times and that these regulations still do not address all concerns raised. The definition of employment is overly broad for frontline worker that are not decisionmakers. There is a nonprofit staffing crisis, and this proposal undermines the City’s goals. The proposed regulations are punitive. The nonprofit board requirements are also overly broad. City employees may be prevented from sitting on a board unrelated to their City role even if they do not make contract decisions. Rules should be more specific to prevent employees from making decisions regarding the specific nonprofit on which they sit. There is a negligible risk of corrupting influence from sitting on a nonprofit board.

Chair Finlev asked Canning to clarify Ms. Lerman’s comment regarding positions majority-funded by an individual’s department. Canning noted that this refers to section 3. This section came from discussions with DPH and aims to prohibit City employees from “double dipping” by essentially being paid by their department for two roles. It is permitted if a small portion of the funding for an employee’s non-City role comes from their department. This regulation would prohibit an employee from holding a position only if a majority of it is funded by their department. Chair Finlev noted that this may need to be clarified moving forward. Commissioner Salahi stated that this is a reasonable position for now. After the regulation is implemented, he would like to know how many people are impacted by this regulation.

Motion 240927-04 (Flórez Feng / Tsai): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (5-0) to approve the proposed regulations as drafted.

Item 9. Items for Future Meetings

Public Comment:

Ellen Lee Zhou stated that propositions are related to deep state money. The Ethics Commission needs to have judicial power. Zhou provided a non-discrimination statement regarding the termination of unvaccinated employees. The City fired unvaccinated employees. Vaccines are bad for children. The Commission has a duty to work with the Mayor to return all unvaccinated employees to the City. The Commission also has a duty to stop illegal debates that do not include all mayoral candidates.

Item 10. Additional Opportunity for General Public Comment

No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

Item 11. Adjournment

The Commission adjourned at 11:53am.